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Saturday, September 30, 2017

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher
has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you
informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy
them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in
installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in
addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel
was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and
tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this
blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll
keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production
schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.

3. Ground your readers in the
writing.

4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage
of the novel.

5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

These are the steps I use to write a
novel including the five discrete parts of a novel:

I
finished writing my 28th novel, working title, School, potential
title Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.The theme statement is: Sorcha, the abandoned
child of an Unseelie and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school
where she meets the problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.

Here is the cover proposal for Deirdre:
Enchantment and the School.

Cover
Proposal

The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I continued writing my 29th novel, working title Red Sonja.I finished my 28th novel, working
title School.If you noticed, I started on number 28, but
finished number 29 (in the starting sequence—it’s actually higher than
that).I adjusted the numbering.I do keep everything clear in my
records.

How to begin a novel.Number one thought, we need an entertaining
idea.I usually encapsulate such an idea
with a theme statement.Since I’m
writing a new novel, we need a new theme statement.Here is an initial cut.

For novel 29:Red Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates the
X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test pilot’s administrative clerk, learns
about freedom, and is redeemed.

The
protagonist and the telic flaw are tied permanently together.The novel plot is completely dependent on the
protagonist and the protagonist’s telic flaw.They are inseparable.This is
likely the most critical concept about any normal (classical) form novel.

So,
how do you write a rich and powerful initial scene?Let’s start from a theme statement.Here is an example from my latest novel:

The
theme statement for Deirdre: Enchantment
and the School is: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie and a human,
secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the problem child
Deirdre and is redeemed.

Here
is the scene development outline:

1.
Scene input (comes from the previous scene output or is an initial scene)

4.
Write the scene using the output and creative elements to build the tension.

5.
Write the release

6.
Write the kicker

If
you have the characters (protagonist, protagonist’s helper, and antagonist),
the initial setting, the telic flaw (from the protagonist), a plot idea, the
theme action, then you are ready to write the initial scene.I would state that since you have a
protagonist, the telic flaw, a plot idea, and the theme action, you have about
everything—what you might be lacking is the tension and release cycle in your scenes.

Here is an example of developing or
building tension and release in a scene.This example is from Shadow of
Darkness an Ancient Light novel.Now Sveta is traveling with Aleksandr.She is expanding the hegemony of the Soviet
Union and spreading out her own senses for her own purposes.

Aleksandr is simply returning home—to
a degree.There is some historical information in this
scene.That sets the scene in history in
a way nothing else can.Notice how
powerful Sveta’s influence has become.She
is actually representing the Soviet as well as translating.

Here is the scene:

In January 1949, Beria began to
consolidate his power by removing the associates of his dead rival Andrei Zhdanov.The Leningrad Affair began in earnest,
and the MVD played a large role.Sveta’s
office was not directly affected by the incident.Neither Beria nor the MVD needed her or her
people for its internal operations.

The overtures and support of the Chinese
Communist Party were Sveta’s main concern at this time.She sent Aleksandr many times to China as a
translator and a representative, and following his pronouncement, this time, of
her skill in the Chinese language, made the trip twice herself.

Every time Sveta came near China she felt a strong unease as
though something prickled the edge of her mind.It was as if some thing she did not fully know how to detect was right
over the horizon.She knew, with a
little more knowledge, she could see it or understand what it was, but she
didn’t dare gain that knowledge—not yet.She knew if she touched the tablet everything would be clear to her, but
she dared not touch the tablet—not yet.

Sveta’s office was very busy, and she
had some privileged issues she had to work through.Svetlana
Iosifovnamarried Yuri Zhdanov, the son of the dead
Andrei Zhdanov, who was once Stalin’s supposed successor.This took Svetlana Iosifovna, with her management and translation capability out of
service during a very busy time.In
consequence, Sveta had Aleksandr work
some of the management of the office for her.This relieved her from replacing Svetlana Iosifovna and kept the
translation office running.

Alan G. Kirk, the new American ambassador
finally arrived in July to replace Smith who left because of an illness the
last December.Sveta found Kirk easier
to work with, but the Soviet detonation of their atomic bomb in August and the
declaration of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in
October occupied her translators and representation.Sveta made the long train trip to China with Aleksandr in
late October to permanently and officially establish the Soviet embassy and
translation staff.

Their visit was very successful and they began the return
trip in early November.When they
entered Soviet territory, Aleksandr asked Sveta, “Would you like to visit my
parents with me?”

Sveta looked at him strangely.Her face was filled with longing and sadness,
“I would like to very much.I don’t know
what Marya will say.”

“I’ll handle Marya.”

In a few hours, Sveta and Aleksandr found themselves on a
mixed freight and passenger train headed toward Aleksandrs parent’s small town
on the border of China and Siberia.Sveta sat
across from Aleksandr in a private compartment, “What did you tell Marya?”

“I told her we were going to visit a Gulag in Siberia.”

“You didn’t,” Sveta frowned, “She is very sensitive about
such things.”

“I’m kidding you, Svetochka.I told her I was taking you to meet my parents.She told me to look after you.She even gave me money.”

Sveta blushed, “I forgot.”

“I have enough for us to travel on and feed ourselves.”

Sveta laid down her book, “What will you tell your parents
about me?”

“I will tell them you are my friend and my boss.I will tell them you are the Director of the Special
Directorate for International Understanding in the MVD.”

Sveta blushed again, “Please don’t tell
them that, Sasha.”

“Why not?It’s true.”

“It may be true, but…,” She stared at
him, “Is this who you think I am?”

“No.Sveta, I can’t tell them who you are.I can’t tell them who you think you are.Do you want me to tell them who I think you are?”

Sveta smiled shyly, “Tell me first, and
I will see if it is appropriate.”

“Very well.First, I will not need to tell them you are
beautiful.That is obvious.”

Sveta picked up her book, “If that’s
where this is going, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Second, I will not need to tell them
you are very special.That is also obvious.What other person would go with me to an
ex-Gulag?To visit a priest?They will understand that without
explanation.”

Sveta rolled her eyes, “Then, you will
tell them?”

“I’ll tell them the truth.I’ll tell them I love you, and I want to
marry you.”

Sveta threw her book at him, “You won’t
say any such thing.”

Aleksandr picked up the book and dusted it off,
“This book is from the university library.You should take better care of it.”

“I told you.You won’t
say that to your parents.”

“But, Svetochka, it is the truth.And, as you say, the truth is the truth.”

Sveta turned her head and pouted.

“Svetochka, what do you want me to tell them?”

“I don’t want you to tell them anything.”She snapped her fingers, “You may tell them,
I am your student and traveled with you to China as a translator.”

“Ha,” Aleksandr laughed, “You don’t know what they will
guess, and what they will know.They are both educated, and for their own
safety, they are well informed about politics.The reports I know you make to the church…”

Sveta’s eyes widened in alarm, “Hush, is it so obvious?”

“Svetochka, it is completely obvious.It was obvious from the moment you first
started to work for the NKVD.Those
reports, the information in them gets to my parents.They told me themselves the last time they
wrote.The information flow started
nearly the day you began to work in the NKVD.They have no idea from whom they come, but Kruglov knows and Beria knows
and Abakumov knows.If you don’t believe
me ask Father Nikolay.”

“Why don’t they stop me?”

“Because you are more important to them in the other work you
do.They know what you are doing.They probably realize the surreptitious work
you are doing with the embassies.”

Sveta involuntarily ducked.

“Yes they know about that too.The way they work is they let you do your job
as long as you provide real worth to them.They never forget the small failures and infractions—they document them.When you become a liability to the Party or
the Soviet, they will use those failures to destroy you.”

Sveta bit her lip, “I knew, but I didn’t want to admit it to
myself.”

“Don’t worry.I will
tell you when they are ready to move against you.It may never happen.”

Aleksandr handed her the book, “I won’t tell them
anything.He held up his hand as she
raised the book again, “I will tell them your name.”

Sveta slowly lowered the book to her lap and started to read.

Again,
here is showing and not telling.Show
and don’t tell.I don’t let you see the
minds of my characters—I give them an opportunity to reveal themselves.How much is truth and how much falsehood?I’ll let you decide.This is the power of showing and the power of
literature that shows.

I
hope you can see the humor in this scene.Aleksandr is revealing as much as Sveta.In this environment where there is very little chance of anyone
overhearing him, he can tell her much of what he knows.She hadn’t imagined that the MVD was watching
her so closely, or if she did know, she ignored it.

We
see another love confession.How is the
poor boy to take it?They are heading to
visit his parents.Obviously, Aleksandr
hopes this will resonate with Sveta in some way.The why that Sveta might go with
Aleksandr.This is more complicated—could
she be falling in love with him?

Friday, September 29, 2017

29 September 2017, Writing
- part x266, Novel Form, more Confession and Tension

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher
has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you
informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy
them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in
installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in
addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel
was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and
tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this
blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll
keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production
schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.

3. Ground your readers in the
writing.

4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage
of the novel.

5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

These are the steps I use to write a
novel including the five discrete parts of a novel:

I
finished writing my 28th novel, working title, School, potential
title Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.The theme statement is: Sorcha, the abandoned
child of an Unseelie and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school
where she meets the problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.

Here is the cover proposal for Deirdre:
Enchantment and the School.

Cover
Proposal

The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I continued writing my 29th novel, working title Red Sonja.I finished my 28th novel, working
title School.If you noticed, I started on number 28, but
finished number 29 (in the starting sequence—it’s actually higher than
that).I adjusted the numbering.I do keep everything clear in my
records.

How to begin a novel.Number one thought, we need an entertaining
idea.I usually encapsulate such an idea
with a theme statement.Since I’m
writing a new novel, we need a new theme statement.Here is an initial cut.

For novel 29:Red Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates the
X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test pilot’s administrative clerk, learns
about freedom, and is redeemed.

The
protagonist and the telic flaw are tied permanently together.The novel plot is completely dependent on the
protagonist and the protagonist’s telic flaw.They are inseparable.This is
likely the most critical concept about any normal (classical) form novel.

So,
how do you write a rich and powerful initial scene?Let’s start from a theme statement.Here is an example from my latest novel:

The
theme statement for Deirdre: Enchantment
and the School is: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie and a human,
secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the problem child
Deirdre and is redeemed.

Here
is the scene development outline:

1.
Scene input (comes from the previous scene output or is an initial scene)

4.
Write the scene using the output and creative elements to build the tension.

5.
Write the release

6.
Write the kicker

If
you have the characters (protagonist, protagonist’s helper, and antagonist),
the initial setting, the telic flaw (from the protagonist), a plot idea, the
theme action, then you are ready to write the initial scene.I would state that since you have a
protagonist, the telic flaw, a plot idea, and the theme action, you have about
everything—what you might be lacking is the tension and release cycle in your scenes.

Here is an example of developing or
building tension and release in a scene.This example is from Shadow of
Darkness an Ancient Light novel.The last evening, Sveta became drunk and
spoke to Aleksandr about herself.She
can’t remember what she said, and she definitely wants to know.This lets me reveal more to the reader about
Sveta and some information about Aleksandr.

Remember, however, the revelation of
the protagonist is the purpose of the novel.

Here is the scene:

That evening, the snow was trickling down from clouds lying
low above the city.The lights outlined
them and the frosty bits that sparkled and fell on Sveta and Aleksandr.No one was near them.Sveta held on to his arm, “What did I tell
you last night?”

“You said you left your mother and father, your sister and
brothers because you loved them.I
checked with my friend in the MVD, your record doesn’t list brothers or a
sister.You said before you couldn’t
remember anything.”

Sveta walked away from him toward a quiet arbor in the
trees.She brushed off the snow and let
herself down on a seat at the back of the space.Aleksandr sat beside her.Sveta took his hand, “Sasha, I have dreams,
terrible dreams.I can’t describe how
intense they are.In them, I believe I
relive my past life.I see my parents,
my brothers, my sister.Are they
real?I have no idea.I think they are.Am I insane?Marya tells me I am not.For a
long time, I could not wake from these dreams.I lived them as intensely as I do life.At first, I woke in Marya’s arms, she would be praying the rosary to me.She said I screamed for hours on end.When I lived in Vasily Grossman’s apartment,
the block commissar wanted to send me to a people’s asylum because I disturbed
the neighborhood.That is why Vasily
brought me to the convent.”She smirked
up at him, “The dreams have become less awful, but they are no less real.Mother Marya believes I am getting better.I think I am just learning more about
myself.And the self I see, I hate.The person I see is me, and I can’t stand
her, but I agree with her.My parents
loved me.I loved them so much, but I
couldn’t go back to them.What I had
become would have hurt them.My brothers
and sister would not have been able to sit in the same room with me because of
what I had become.”

“But Svetochka, what had you become?What is so awful about you that no one else
knows or sees?”

“What is the worse being you can
imagine?What creature do you fear of
all creatures?”

“A murderer.”

She shuddered, “I believe I have
participated in murder, but a murderer is only a person who murders.The soul of a murderer was once like the
souls of every other man.Can you imagine
a demon?A devil?A succubus?Can you imagine a creature who is not wholly human, not because of
divinity, but because of the opposite?”

“I can imagine such a being, but that
doesn’t make it true.”

“Sasha, I croak like a crow and limp
like a vulture.The truth is the truth
even if I don’t like it.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Because you don’t believe does not make something
false.This is why I left my mother and
father, my sister and brothers.This is
why you should not love me, and why I can’t allow myself to love you.”She smiled, “The best thing would be to tell
you to never try to see me again, but I can’t do that either.”

Aleksandr looked
aghast.

Sveta touched his lips, “That is the proper look.”

“No, Svetochka, my appearance only asked why.It would break my heart for you to ask me to
go away, but I want to know, why can’t you tell me to never see you again?”

“If you don’t decide on your own to forget me forever, I
can’t send you away because you are really my only friend.The sisters love me, but I could never tell
them what I told you.They all love me,
but none of them would understand.I’m
not sure you will understand, but at least, now, you know the truth.”

“What truth?I don’t
know, and I still don’t understand.”

“Then Sasha, I don’t know how to make this any clearer to
you.If you think me insane, that is at
least a step forward.”She stood up.

“I don’t think you are insane, Svetochka.I don’t know what or who you really are, but
I am your friend.”

“Thank you, Sasha.”

Still confused, Aleksandr left Sveta
near the postern.He walked thoughtfully
all the way back to the university through the drifting snow.

This
is showing and not telling.Don’t tell
us what your characters think.Don’t
tell us about your characters.Show us,
through dialog and their actions what your characters think and reveal their
past.This is what showing and not
telling means.

For
example, I could have told you all about what was in Sveta’s mind about
Aleksandr and her past.That is not just
poor writing—that is horrifically amateurish writing.If you write this way, this may explain why
you are unable to find a publisher.This
may explain why people don’t like your writing.I’m certain you have heard, show and don’t tell.I’m trying to show you what this means.

This
is a very important scene, not in the climax of the novel, although it does
point to the climax.This scene reveals
the thoughts of Sveta about intimacy and about Aleksandr. This scene sets up the future and additional
scenes in the novel.I spent many scenes
setting up this specific scene.

From
the beginning of the introduction of Aleksandr, the scenes have pointed to this
scene (and future ones).If you notice,
I gave all kinds of foreshadowing and setups that led to this scene.There was no introspection.There was no internal thinking.There was no mental knowledge.I showed you the mind of the characters only
through their dialog and through their actions.

This
is the way to reveal characters.Throw
away any of your introspective writing, and show us the mind and heart of your
characters.

About Me

L. D. Alford is a novelist whose writing explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know. His writing distinctively develops the connections between present events and history—he combines them with threads of reality that bring the past alive. L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he is widely traveled and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Dayton, and is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and the USAF Test Pilot School. L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality. He is the author of three historical fiction novels: Centurion, Aegypt, and The Second Mission, and three science fiction novels: The End of Honor, The Fox’s Honor, and A Season of Honor.